Left-Handed, Right-Minded

I just knit.

And it had been a long time since I gave much thought to how I knit. But then I was in an yarn store today looking for a book, and I got to talking with the clerk about EZ. I was buying “The Opinionated Knitter” for reference (because I think some of my “next sweater” ideas are starting to coagulate), and I said something about how I love EZ’s style, even though she wouldn’t approve of my “backwards-ness”.

And so we got talking about backwards knitting and handedness.

Now, I only started knitting left-handed because I couldn’t seem to make myself do it the standard way. It was very awkward. There were some helps on the internet, but for the most part, I figured it out myself. And it makes sense to me. It’s just what I do, and I don’t try to press it upon anyone, or make a case that everyone should do it my way.

So I guess I find it kind of surprising that some people are very insistent that everyone should knit in the “standard” way (and by “standard”, I mean using the right needle as the working needle). Why do they find it so troubling that other people are doing something differently and achieving the same result?

I’ve heard all sorts of arguments for why it’s silly that anyone should feel a need to knit “backwards”:

Knitting is a two-handed activity, it shouldn’t matter which hand is doing what

It’s so much more complicated because you have to re-write or interpret patterns to compensate for working at it form the wrong direction

There are a lot more, but I think you get the idea.

I think it’s actually funny that some supposedly creative, artistic folks can be really closed minded about methods of the craft. (What is interesting to note here is that even with”standard” knitters, there are pickers and throwers, and all different styles amongst them. If you ever sit and watch a bunch of people knitting together, chances are you won’t see any two people doing exactly the same thing.)

In some ways, backwards knitting actually makes more sense. When you’re reading a chart, for instance, and you can follow it left to right, as you would read anything else in English. But most of the time, it’s just the same. You just have to understand how the stitches are formed and how what you’re doing contributes to the shaping of the item.

In other words, you have to have The Big Picture.

And when you’ve backed up far enough to take in the whole scene, you’ll see that we’re not really doing anything different, you and I. We’re just doing it from different perspectives.

Sock of Destiny?

I was going to get something started this weekend. A sweater, perhaps.

Goodness knows I have enough lovingly hand-spun yarn hanging around to cast on for a large project.

But I am still lacking the mental energy and creative clarity required to cast on for a sweater or vest -anything that will require structure and adherence to a general sizing scheme.

Maybe this is because I’ve already got something invested in the yarn- my time and energy, and I don’t want to waste all that scrumptious wool on a so-so project.

Or maybe I’m just being lazy.

But, I’ve got a pretty good sock thing going right now, so I might ride this for a while- until the clouds part and I can find my way.

So, here is the new time-filling, yarn-using-up sock:

Don’t get me wrong. I really like this sock. It has a lot of things going for it: the tiny cables, Denise’s special modified-band heel, the sofy, squishy hand-spun romney yarn. I’m enjoying knitting it.

It’s just not what I thought I’d be doing.  This is so often the case. A new sweater adventure seems very grand compared to a lowly sock. But that’s where I’m at.

The sock is my destiny.

For now.

Unmatched Pair= 2 FOs in One.

Though I haven’t been doing an awful lot of knitting lately, I did finally get sock #2 done.

And I continue to be very pleased with my new approach to sock knitting. Knitting sock #2 was really kind of nice because I felt free to mix it up a little, and be more adventurous with my striping scheme. I followed the same general plan as sock #1, so they would be compatible, but I found that each one developed it’s own personality.

Here is the pair, all washed up and ready for the world:

I like each one in a different way, and I think that’s good. I might just follow this path a little longer and see where it leads.

But I do feel the need to embark on another larger project (sweater, vest, shawl, or something). I quick trip to the stash turned up the following candidates who look like they could work together in a constructive and creative way-

I do love those blues… The are (left to right): shetland, shetland (double coated type- almost like icelandic) and a merino cross of some sort. All local, and acquired directly from the shepherds ( I think that’s cool). If I can dig up (or spin up) a little more of one of these, I think I’ve got the makings of a vest.

I gotta get something in the works. ‘Tis a hard thing to be between projects!

Blue Monday

That’s what I heard on the radio this morning. Today is supposed to be the pits: the holidays are over, it’s cold & rainy, everyone has realized the extent of their Christmas debt and are already breaking their New Year’s resolutions.

The heck with that. As far as I can tell, today is a pretty darn good day.

I’m off work. It is beautiful and sunny out, though a bit cold. Blue Sky. (Maybe that’s the blue they’re talking about?)

I’ve got two happy pups to keep me company.

I’ve got lots of wool to play with- and thanks to the first item I mentioned, I have time to play with it!

It’s always best if I can do my wool washing and dying when the man is off working or distracted with other activities, so today is my day. I’m washing up some of that lovely dark Romney lamb fleece, and dying some gray yarn and some white fleece from the stash.

It’s a mighty rare day in January that you can dry fleece outside, but that’s what I’m doin’.

And here are some more of those January blues. Nice , eh?

A Denisee Day to Remember

The day started out dark and cold.

We were planning on being out of bed by 6:30 in order to be out the door by 7:30, but the dogs decided I had slept enough by 5:15.

It was an icky winter day, even by PNW standards. Cold, rainy, windy. But regardless, I awoke a happy girl, knowing that today we would be going to Stanwood to learn farm stuff.

And learn we did! About organic soil improvement, pasture weeds, fencing, sheep shearing on a stand, fruit tree pruning, and producing/processing/marketing quality fleece.

And I have pictures!

Here is our lucky contestant for the “sheep shearing on a stand” demo by Eileen Hordyk of Sand Hill Sheep and Wool:

He was a very cooperative fellow, especially for this being his first time through the shearing experience. Isn’t he handsome critter? Here he is about half-way through the process:

What is really neat about the concept of shearing on a stand is that you can get all the prime fleece off and out of the way first, and then go back and clean up the legs, belly and anything else you’d otherwise have to skirt out later. And it also keeps you from having to flip a sheep on it’s butt and roll it around while you’re clipping- another big plus in my book.

Here is the young gentleman with his entire lamb fleece removed:

And here is the half of his fleece that I gleefully bought from Eileen:

Between that and the cool books the man got me (including Three Bags Full, by Leonie Swann), this just might qualify as the best birthday yet.

Farm Livin’ 101

So, I was at a Spindrifers (local spinning guild) meeting on Saturday, talking sheep with Yvonne, who recently adopted some CVM (California Variegated Mutant) sheep. She mentioned something about a WSU extension event going on in Stanwood next weekend. Farming seminars and such. Just my speed!
So I came home and checked it out on the web- Country Living Expo 2008, Stanwood High School, Saturday, Jan 19.

I am so excited. The man and I are both signed up (he gave in pretty easy because it’s my birthday- I lucked out there!) and I think it’s going to be great. Lots of good topics for the seminars, everything from maintaining a pasture to shearing sheep on a stand- and a prime rib lunch to boot.

Now that’s my idea of a good time.

I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.

Life is like a pile of rolags…

Success in the product is largely about the prep work.

(Maybe I’ll develop that metaphor more completely later on.)

These little rolags are carded seconds of a couple different wools.  Bits left over from my first time around flick carding the locks. Handcarding the rolags is more work than the flicking process, but it lets me make good use of the shorter fibers that get screened out in the first go-round. And it’s kind of a relaxing way to spend an evening.

I spin up the rolags using a long-(ish) draw  method, and it results in a really nice soft, lofty kind of yarn.  I do love the long draw and spin this style whenever I can. Of course, it works best when the fiber is well prepped and drafts easily and evenly.

But that can be said of most things  in spinning, and life, eh?

More Fun with Fleece

The new little fleece is all dry and ready to be played with:

It cleaned up beautifully, and is just dying to be spun up. So, we’ll go through a little bit of how I get it ready for spinning.

With something like this, I usually just grab a few locks at a time and use a flick carder (or dog brush) to open up the ends and remove any short or weak bits (any remaining veg falls out too) . In photos:

Holding the locks by the butt end, I comb down through the tips of the fibers, opening them up.

Then I turn it aronfand do the same to the butt ends.

And then you have a nice little cloud of loosened up fibers, all still going in the same direction. I usually spin right from this stage. I just make up a mountain of little fiber bundles and then get spinning.

But if you want to, you can easily make your own roving. Just tug out a small bunch of fibers fo the end of the bundle, and keep drafting them in a steady stream until you run out:

Then you can gently wrap them into a tidy little bun for spinning later.

Here is a short video demonstration:

I am Rich in Wool

Yes, indeed.

Today was knitting day at work (we meet at lunch), and we had quite a crowd show up after two weeks off over the holidays. Was neat to see what all people have been up to over that time.

And would you believe, I was gifted with another fleece!

Yep. I am becoming a wool magnet.

What’s especially cool about this one is that it still has it’s 4H blue ribbon with it. It’s a very nice bunch of wool- soft, crimpy, no veg, and pretty darn clean (compared to some things I’ve worked with). It’s been sitting in a basement for about a year or so now, so it’s got a bit of an orange-y cast from the lanolin, but I expect that it will wash right out.

And so, without further ado, here ’tis- the underside, and the outside, respectively.

Isn’t that a nice little fleece?

I’ll be washing about half of it up tonight so I can pass some of it off to another spinning friend. Gotta spread good wool (good will?) around.

New Pair-O-Dimes

Do you love hand knit socks?

Do you wish you had more than two feet so you could show off more than one style at a time?

I started another pair of nice, heavy wool socks a while back, and as I settled into the comfortable rhythm of my standard, 2×2 rib for the first 5 inches or so, I had a lot of time to contemplate what I like about knitting socks.

I like deciding what the sock will be- for whom, what colors, what type of heel, what type of toe, etc. I don’t generally do fancy socks. I do boot socks. Probably because I like wearing boots. And having toasty feet.

The problem with socks is that it’s really two projects in one.

Traditionally, starting a sock carries with it the implied commitment to finish not only that one, but also another just like it. And it’s the “just like it” part that sometimes gets tricky. Especially if you’re like me and just making it up as you go along most of the time.

But you know what is neat about knitting? (well there are a lot of things that are neat about knitting, but we’ll get to them one at a time)

You can pretty much do whatever you want. If it works for you, keep doing it. There are no knitting police. If someone comes up to you and presents him or herself as a knitting police, ask to see their badge.

I’ve found that it is very liberating to throw out a deeply ingrained assumption-for instance, that socks must come in matched pairs.

And I’ve decided that each sock needs to be recognized as an individual object.

Therefore, I am happily working away at a sock that will never be a “matcher”. It might have friends that share a certain color or striping pattern, but it won’t ever have to deal with being identical.

And I won’t have to make another one just like it. Heh!